Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a tremendous set of Philippine Moro body armor, which consists of 25 individual brass plates which have been joined together with countless brass rings, in most cases three joined rings for each connection. The armor is worn with the opening to the back, which is joined together by small hooks & latches on the six central plates. The top piece is meant to fit around the wearer’s neck. Many of the plates are missing brass rings, with some having held up better than others, and a small bag is included which contains a few of the rings that had fallen off. This set was almost certainly brought back by an American soldier during the Philippine Insurrection.

Although the Philippines never had a united pre-Hispanic nation, the individual domains that existed were wonders in their own right. And these separate kingdoms had one thing in common—a strong warrior culture. Civilizations in the precolonial Philippines could range from tribal to domains with advanced governing systems. And providing defenses, policing and raids were feudal warriors comparable to other militarized classes, like knights and samurai. In the Tagalog kingdom, they were the maharlika, while the timawa belonged to the ancient Visayans. In Mindanao, the warrior classes of the Moro people were known to engage in raids and piracy.

They fought with a variety of weapons, with their swords being the most well-known. But the Moro raiders were unique in the choice of equipment they wore. Do note that Song Dynasty China once described the Visayan pirates as naked and covered with tattoos when doing raids. On the other hand, the Boxer Codex showed the other precolonial warriors clad in clothes while brandishing their shields and polearms.

The Moros were different. In addition to swords and other weaponry (sometimes firearms), they are noted for the protection they wore. They were clad in armor when engaging in battles and raids. While suits of armor were associated with the Spanish conquistadors, the Moros were already wearing their own versions.

When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived, they brought with them plate armor, though they were also clad in brigandines. The degree of coverage varied, with the torso and the head being the most well-protected. But it was the style of helmets that made the Conquistador recognizable, their Castilian Morion.

On the other hand, the Moro warriors were protected differently. Few tangible samples of this Philippine armor survived, and the American forces captured most. But unlike the plate armor of the Conquistadors, the Moro armor uses a mix of mail and plate.

One could describe the outside appearance of the Moro armor as a shirt of mail, with bits of metal segments at the torso area. The material of choice for the plates and mail was brass, though nonmetallic materials were also used for the plates. In one sample, the plate segments were carved from water buffalo (carabao) horns. The armor is a typical Islamic type, which is opened at the front when taken on and secured by a hook and eye clasps. The clasps could be ornately decorated.

The material of the armor could be due to the limited supply of iron and some used plates made from oyster shells. Overall, the armor covered only the torso, with the plates protecting the organs like the heart and lungs. The mail part never extended to the arms, but it had a skirt-style extension to protect the lower torso and the hips.

The design and the build are typical of Islamic armor. Nevertheless, it resembled the type of armor found in India. The zirah bakhtar from Sindh, India, had the same plate and mail design, except the mail shirt extended to the arms. It also came with hand guards and hand protection.

The Indonesian armor baju lamina also bore a striking resemblance to the Philippine Moro armor. Like the said armor, the Indonesian type covered only the torso, with a skirt extension consisting of mail and brass plates. In fact, the mail and plate armor designs were common in Asia and the Islamic world. Hence, the mail and plate armor design were passed through the visits of Muslim missionaries and traders in Mindanao before the arrival of the Spanish.

When fully extended, the back of the armor measures roughly 20½ x 21½”. Each of the primary plates (on the front and back torso) measure 4¾ x 6”. This is a tremendous one-of-a-kind set of Moro Armor from the Philippine Insurrection, ready for further research and display!